We are calling it after our 18th boil today! Lots not running, some yellow and cloudy, but the rest produced enough for a last go around! Used up the last of the damp wood I dragged out of the woods....
Type: Posts; User: ponderingjunkman
We are calling it after our 18th boil today! Lots not running, some yellow and cloudy, but the rest produced enough for a last go around! Used up the last of the damp wood I dragged out of the woods....
Finishing the 16th boil today. Most we've done prior was 14. Seems like its slowing down, but the cold nights may force me to cut more firewood! Dumped half a barrel of yellow sap this morning....
Indeed! However you get what you pay for! The pump became very hard starting thru the day yesterday. Took it back apart and resealed the leaking cylinder base gasket. Seemed to start better again. We...
Gathered mid afternoon. We use a little homelite pump to empty the tote and 6 barrels into the tote on the truck, which then drains into our big tank at the sap house. We got two of those AP125 pumps...
7 runs so far puts us in the middle of our season. Made 30 gallons for the year today. Less than previous years, but less taps too. Cold for a couple days will be a nice break.
Ran 3 more sets lines up the hill yesterday. Always nice to see sap pour out the hole, and wash out chips! Grabbed a new bag of T fittings, but found that all of them are defective- one leg looks...
There are 2 types of sugarmakers- one that has burned the pans, the other that has lied about it!
1st boil today, after thrashing to get the evaporator assembled. Some freeze cracks in parts of my preheater, so there was last minute redesigning going on. Yes I should have prepared sooner. The...
Once again skipped a year. Unfortunately we skipped because my chief gatherer and all around good guy- my dad- had a stroke. Didn't have the heart to make syrup. While he is still kicking and...
Well that's it for us! Great runs over the weekend, but it sure shut off today, despite 27 degrees last night. Lots of cloudy, yellow sap, and not much of it. Gathered what looked good, boiled and...
Seems to be running well the last two days. Of course, fixing the line that the tree branch fell on, and the one tap that pulled out will definitely help fill the barrel, rather than run on the...
Running kind of slow, but still 2.6 average sugar content. Snow almost all gone. Seems to be lots of foam while boiling, more than previous years. 38 gallons so far. The evaporator is working well,...
Got the rest of the lines up yesterday. Still a foot of snow, but it's hard enough to walk on the top of and not sink in. Lots of trees gone on the hill due to logging- land that I don't own. Kind of...
Well this is a little better!
Gathered 460 gallons. Finished assembling the preheater and hoods, and got a fire going late afternoon. Went thru about 250 gallons and sweetened the pans. Seems like good yield for maybe 325 taps....
Hung the rest of our buckets today. Put 66 on some trees facing south that have not been tapped in at least 35 years. It was 18 degrees this morning and warmed up to low 40s. The buckets we set this...
Back after 2 years! Made some extensive repairs to the arch, and got some buckets and lines set yesterday. Some woods has been logged, and one good area was sold to new owners, so we may not be doing...
And just like that, it's all done! 134 gallons, and 3 quarts! Never thought we would make THAT much! 6835 gallons of sap. 50.7 to 1. Odd, we will pull taps with snow still on the ground. No Flow...
Me too, I'm done as of today. No containers, no more wood, and no flow without a freeze last night.
Well it ran slowly after this freeze. Guess it took a bit to thaw. Oddly, the buckets out produced the lines. Sugar content still at 50 gallons sap to one gallon syrup. Despite all that, we have...
Is there any end to this?[/QUOTE]
NO! I was eyeing a 4 by 14 evaporator on craigslist, but it had sold. But that would have meant a new sap house, more taps,....
It's been running, but sugar content is a consistent 50 to 1, based on gallons boiled vs syrup produced. Seems sweeter tasting the last couple runs tho. Good run today again, and it's still running,...
Boiling during the Calm before the latest storm!
It's running! 4 hours time this afternoon, one main line with 85 taps on 3/16 filled a barrel! Tastes sweeter too! We had 15 inches of snow, and no power most of the storm. Walked the lines...
Well, what I thought would be a good run Tuesday was not! Saw 28 degrees Tuesday morning, but got only 215 gallons. But I did dump 50 gallons- I snagged a couple 275 gallon totes, but didn't properly...